What's this? Can it be? IT IS! We're thrilled to announce that the first new digital collection to be Hagley Library's Digital Archive since our relaunch project began last winter has arrived.
The Pennsylvania Railroad exhibit photographs, World's Columbian Exposition (Accession 2022.226) collection contains a selection of photographs that were once featured in the Pennsylvania Railroad Company pavilion at the World's Columbian Exposition. This specific photograph shows the grounds of the Great Western Pipe Line Co. of Toronto, Ohio.
The World's Columbian Exposition, named in celebration of the 400th anniversary Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas, was a World's Fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893. The Fair covered 690 acres, and featured cultural, industrial, horticultural, architectural, and scientific exhibitions from across the United States as well as forty-five other nations.
One of those exhibitors was the Pennsylvania Railroad Company Founded in 1846, the PRR was a leading industrial and transportation force throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. At its peak in 1882, the company boasted the largest railroad (by traffic and revenue), the largest transportation enterprise, and the largest corporation in the world.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Company's exhibit at the World's Columbian Exposition was housed in a dedicated pavilion located near the fairground's 64th Street entrance, immediately northeast of the fairground's station for passengers arriving by rail. The exhibition housed within the pavilion building and on the surrounding grounds offered visitors access to physical artifacts, historic rolling stock, model stations and equipment, maps, memorabilia, and photographic views related to the company's history and services.
This collection of photographs contains a selection of images that were once exhibited alongside similar photographs throughout the eastern half of the exhibition pavilion. These photographs document industries located along Pennsylvania Railroad Company and subsidiary rail lines, as well as views of wharves, docks, and stations used by Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Writing on the back of each photograph, when present, indicates exhibit numbers used by the Pennsylvania Railroad's exhibit catalog for each photograph. The collection has been organized into series that correspond to divisions used in the catalog. There are also a small group of four additional photographs that appear to have been added to the collection at a later date, and do not appear to be associated with the World's Columbian Exposition or the Pennsylvania Railroad.
To view this collection online now, just click here!